Here are instructions for setting up SSH tunneling under Windows. For the Mac, tunneling depends on your Mac OS and your SSH software: Mac OS X tunneling SSH Mac OS 9 tunneling MacSSH See the Mac security homepage    for other FTP options

When you establish an SSH connection, what you get is a secure telnet-like terminal emulator window. Through this secure connection you can piggy-back other traffic (communication protocols). This is the SSH tunnel. Think of it as a fat pipe between your client and the server host that is created when you establish the SSH connection. Through this pipe you can tunnel other protocols. Each protocol uses what's called a "port". For example, if you send email, you use the SMTP protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), and it uses the SMTP port. If you forward a port through your secure SSH tunnel, then you do port forwarding.

While you cannot connect to the Unix server anymore using certain protocols that transmit usernames and passwords in the clear (such as POP, IMAP, TELNET), you can tunnel these protocols through your SSH tunnel.

Special thanks to Ohio State Chemistry Department for above definition.